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1. Political Equality for Women
2. Regulatng the Influence of Money in Politics
3. Changing the Parliamentry System of Remuneration and
Entitlements
4. Changing the System of Parliamentary Representation
5. The Bill of Rights Debate- its Relevance to the Equality
of Women
6. People's Conventions- Public Participation in Democracy
2.1.1 The Commonwealth Electoral Act should be amended to require the Australian Electoral Commission to oversee the financial management and the organisational processes of the political parties, just as consumer affairs departments oversee consumer and voluntary organisations and the Australian Securities Commission oversees business;
2.1.2 The Commonwealth Electoral Act should be amended to require political parties, including and their individual state branches, not only to report annually to the Australian Electoral Commission, but also but also to publish audited and detailed accounts of all income, including donations, and expenditures in publicly accessible places such as their websites and in the print media.
Rationale. Political parties, while they are legally private organisations, political parties are recipients of large amounts of public money, as well as of subscriptions and donations for electoral purposes.; tTheir parties' representatives receive generous salaries and allowances while in parliament, and they wield enormous power and are pivotal public institutions, yet they appear to have minimal legal responsibilities.
There appears to be no law to require honest party pre-selection processes, membership rules and record keeping. While substantially subsidised by the public purse, political parties are not accountable to the public because they are exempt from many of the rules which apply to other legal entities such as companies and incorporated associations. Antony Green (Sydney Morning Herald 30/11/00) analysed their defects in detail and considered that political parties "need to be brought within a sensible legal framework", one which requires accountability and adherence to laws mandating honesty and equity as required of other non-government organisations.
2.2.1 public funding of elections and electioneering should be substantially increased and accompanied by increased accountability and decreased private funding;
2.2.2 the giving and receiving of direct donations or donations through a third party to political parties for any purpose should be restricted by law to a specified amount, say $1,000 per annum for individuals and $10,000 per annum for companies, corporations, organisations and unions, and any monies above such sums or gifts in kind of similar value should be considered a bribe and a criminal offence;
2.2.3 all donations should be registered with the Australian Electoral Commission within 21 days of the receipt of the donation by the party, and the Commission should be required to publish the lists of donations on their website and also in the print media at least quarterly;
2.2.4 payments for access to a serving politician, or payments to a serving politicians, for appearances at public functions, other than for documented costs, should be illegal and the giving and receiving of fees payments for these purposes should be a criminal offence., for which the penalty should be exclusion from the parliament and from elected public office for a period of ten years.
Rationale. The purchase of influence or the appearance of the purchase of influence is a threat to democracy because it negates the value of the votes of electors and fosters disillusion and distrust of the political system.
The practice of funding elections and political activity from large donations by business, unions and wealthy individuals, from fees paid to political parties for companies and lobbyists to attend events such as party conferences, from donations or fees paid for access to a minister or a politician and from payments for politicians as speakers at events has created the perception that political parties and some politicians listen only to those with the deepest purse. How can ordinary people hope to influence or have the same fair and similar access to, for example, or influence, for example, a Minister or a politician who hosts a function for an interest group at which participants pay, say $5,000 each to attend.? The latter is used and condoned by both the major parties (Anne Davies Sydney Morning Herald 7/4/01).
In her address at the Sydney Institute in August 2000, Dr Carmen Lawrence MHR spoke about the influence of money in politics and quoted Parliamentary Library figures which showed that donations to political parties totalled $37 million in 1998-99. Referring to the access of business to government and the emerging role of political staff members going on to becominge lobbyists, she said: "We run the risk of becoming a 'corporate democracy' in which the number of shares you have purchased in the party of your choice determines your effective voting power." (Michelle Grattan Sydney Morning Herald 28/8/00).
In reporting Lawrence's speech, Grattan asked "Does anybody doubt that 'shoppies' [Shop Assistants' Union] and their leader, Joe De Bruyn, have more than average clout in the IVF debate because the union gives mega-bucks ($300,000) for the last election to the (Labor) party". The Shop Assistants Union would appear to wield much more power than women.
Women in consultations and seminars have listed the sleaze factor as a major deterrent to their considering a political career. The sleaze factor, which arises operates when these such large sums of money change hands in politics, is dangerous to our democracy. It demeans those involved in the transaction, it brings our political institutions into disrepute and diminishes voters' respect for the political system. "The great shame is that people don't trust the major parties. People don't trust the process. They don't believe the promises" (Paul Sheehan Sydney Morning Herald 13/5/00). Politicians are perceived as self-serving, lacking in principles and abusive of parliamentary allowances and privileges. Capriciousness, corruption, conflict of interest, opportunism, cronyism, nepotism, branch stacking and pre-selection fraud in the political process and in the behaviour of the political parties are frequently reported. (Michelle Grattan, Sydney Morning Herald 28/8/00).
Other political systems are grappling with the problem of money in politics. The restrictions on donations outlined above are far less draconian than those in the McCann-Feingold Bill before the US Senate (Sydney Morning Herald 21/34/4/01).
Public-spirited women and men considering public office are repelled by the sleaze factor and many will not be encouraged to participate in the political process until political parties reform, are more transparent and are more accountable to the voting public.
Restrictions on donations to small amounts would also have the effect of requiring the political parties to make bigger and better efforts to increase their membership, to respect their members and to rely on them and the public for funds raising.
2.3 As a consequence of their public funding, political parties should be required to develop a civics education program, inviting public and especially female and young people's participation in the political process, advertising their regular meetings and encouraging members and the public to join them in debating the political issues of the day.
Rationale. The level of public debate and of participation in civic life is abysmally low in Australia. This is associated with declining party membership, which is predominantly middle-aged to elderly (Paul Sheehan Sydney Morning Herald 13/5/00), as well as a cynical attitude to politicians thatwhich arises from the perceived corruption of the political process.
The Commonwealth Report Whereas the People: Civics and Citizenship (Report of the Civics Expert Group AGPS 1994) stated that the national civics survey showed that Australian people lacked knowledge of the Australian Constitution, the role and responsibilities of citizenship and the principles of responsible government, and that "women reported greater ignorance on most subjects than men". This relative lack of knowledge is surely a factor in women's low participation in public life.
Provisions for cCivics education was one of the key recommendations of the Women's Constitutional Convention in January 1999.
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